Aug 26th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Politicize My Death (If it Happens!)
I’ll heartily agree with Amanda Marcotte on this point, so consider this post my advance directive: In the event that I day, I hereby urge everyone to “politicize” my passing and us it as an opportunity to advance the causes I believe in.
44 Responses to “Politicize My Death (If it Happens!)”
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August 26th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I’ll wipe a tear as we dedicate the Yglesias Memorial Parking Garage, which charges whatever the market will bear.
August 26th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Matt, I believe advance directives soon will be illegal in the event that you day.
August 26th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Today, in honor of Matt Yglesias’ passing, I vow to turn your local parks into office space. No parking, however. It is what he would have wanted.
August 26th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
This goes into the same file as “Do not speak ill of the dead.” When I die, I would far prefer that my enemies are as honest about me after I’m dead as they were when i was alive rather than offering insincere compliments. I’m dead, what would I care what people say?
August 26th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
In the event that you day, we will line the high speed rail lines and sensible subway systems that will carry your funeral procession to your gravesite, located in a walkable mixed-used neighborhood.
Your funeral program will, of course, not be proofread.
August 26th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
I think that the party that gave Reagan a three-week national funeral doesn’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to politicizing death.
August 26th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
I estimate your odds of death to be about 100%.
August 26th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
5 for the win
August 26th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
I most certainly will not advance your belief that Third Eye Blind has three “best” songs, let alone a single “best” song.
August 26th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Yes, 5. Adam wins the internet.
August 26th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
…and when you die, it’s a shame, but your whole life’s still the same… ~Christine Hirsch
August 26th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Nobody let Petey near any firearms.
August 26th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
…and when you die, it’s a shame, but your whole life’s still the same… ~Christine Hirsch
FYI: If you’re referring to the Throwing Muses song, that’s “Kristen Hersh.”
August 26th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
But what are the trolls (ahem) supposed to do?
For my part, I think I’ll filibuster the Senate resolution honoring the life of Matthew Yglesias.
August 26th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
“If it happens”? How substantial are the odds that you will never day? Do you mean that you hope to day another die, but day nonetheless?
August 26th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I think that Matthew is using the Cockney-calibrated voice recognition software for this post.
August 26th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Reminds me of that Ali G episode where he’s talking to Reagan’s Surgeon General C. Everett Wood
Ali G: What are the chances that me will die someday?
Wood: 100%
Ali G: I think you’s being a bit of a pessimist… didn’t realize you was a player hater.
August 26th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Dammit, I see DTM @3 beat me to it.
August 26th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
I assume the worthy cause in question will be the reduction and eventual elimination of typographical errors in our time.
August 26th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
@Just me 16
It’s more Scottish, no?
August 26th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
@5 FTW!
“You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.”
Wow. That’s an anti-spam mechanism with some authority.
August 26th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Matt, are you drinking yourself to dayth while typing this?
August 26th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
“us it as an opportunity”
Are you planning on taking us all with you when you go? I think you could us a proofreader.
August 26th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
…and when you die, it’s a shame, but your whole life’s still the same… ~Christine Hirsch
LOL I love it when corrections are wrong too. The Throwing Muses singer who wrote and sang “Hook In Her Head” (off the excellent album “The Real Ramona”) is Kristin Hersh. And the lyric is “…and when you die it’s shame, but your old life stays the same…”
That is all.
August 26th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I’ll take advantage of this opportunity to say that I saw the Throwing Muses in around 1992. The Flaming Lips opened! The Lips were great. The Throwing Muses were pathetic. They did the whitest cover of a Jimi Hendrix song I’ve ever heard. To paraphrase George Castanza, “‘Counting Backwards . . .’ Give me a break.”
August 26th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
I hope Iverson’s hall of fame bid comes up before you pass away.
August 26th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
“Politicize My Death (If it Happens!)”
If?
August 26th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
OT: Having been once corrected, I am in a mood to return pedantry for pedantry this evening.
So I just now carefully listened to “Hook In Her Head,” and the line is “when you die it’s a shame, but your old life’s just the same…”
That said, “The Real Ramona” just brings back waves upon waves of nostalgia for 1991. Throwing Muses deserved vastly more attention and praise than they got.
August 26th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
They did the whitest cover of a Jimi Hendrix song I’ve ever heard.
FYI, that was “Manic Depression,” and they played it in reference to Kristin (note my corrected spelling) Hersh’s mental-health issues, which were much-publicized in the music press of the day.
August 26th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Like Matt, I am simply hoping I live to see the day that we are all digitized and uploaded into immortal robot bodies.
August 26th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
I assume Myles will condemn the choice of Matt’s next of kin, who let him be buried with facial hair.
August 26th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
“Hear Lyes Mathew Iglesias”
August 26th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Write.
August 26th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
In the event that I day
===========================================
Which day?
August 26th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Posted this on the wrong thread.
I like them too, James. Love to sing with their albums. Love the lyrics and her sense of humor. Is the woman who literally felt she had a hook in her head a song writer? It takes a good sport and a strong woman to write Mania from experience, too. She isn’t an artist of the caliber of Henrix, but who is? Besides his song Manic-Depression wasn’t really about manic-depression. If she sang it, it was.
August 26th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Many of these suggestions are hilarious. Matt should definitely write his own obituary on the fly and it should be published without corrections when the time comes.
August 26th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
the causes I believe in
invade Iraq
get Obama elected
already done junior
August 26th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
If I’m around for it, I vow to write a misspelled eulogy.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:02 am
Is this going to happen after you get elected to that one Senate term Matt?
August 27th, 2009 at 7:46 am
I would be happy to do something in Amanda’s honor–the sooner the better.
August 27th, 2009 at 7:54 am
In honor of Matt’s passing, I’ll pay a homeless guy to have this picture tattooed on his back.
http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/09/the_punisher.php
Now, what I’m curious about is, what would be the most ironic way for Matt to day?
August 27th, 2009 at 9:52 am
We could turn your body into several gallons of biodiesel, pour you into a HSR engine, and let you advance your own cause.
August 27th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Biodisel, that’s grim, yet thoughtful
August 27th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
[...] Matthew Yglesias: so consider this post my advance directive: In the event that I day, I hereby urge everyone to “politicize” my passing and us it as an opportunity to advance the causes I believe in. [...]